We leave Virginia behind and head to Bristol, Tennessee, for the Food City Dirt Race on Sunday night. Looking at the track specs for Bristol Motor Speedway, it is a 0.53-mile, oval track. A fresh layer of dirt covers Bristol Motor Speedway, but this time with minor adjustments to the racing surface. With the new banking and the night race, it should provide better racing lines and options for drivers during the race.
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Strategy
After a weekend where owners stocked up mostly on dominators, the strategy will immediately shift toward place differential. Bristol is just over half-a-mile long, but the lap count is only 250 instead of 400 like last week at Martinsville. Martin Truex Jr. led 125 laps in the debut race but finished 19th. It is also possible that we will see a wreck that could eliminate at least one top-tier driver. The dirt race at Bristol last year was marred by several wrecks, of which the two main favorites were involved. During lap 51, Christopher Bell coiled his Joe Gibbs Toyota on turn two, collecting both co-favorite Kyle Larson as well as Ross Chastain.
This week, the Money Train delves into the DFS options for Sunday’s Cup Series event in Bristol, Tennessee. The selections are broken down between high salary, mid-range, and value play. Included are player salaries from both FanDuel (FD) and DraftKings (DK). Best of luck to everyone with lineups this weekend.
High Salary
Kyle Larson (14,000 FD | 11,200 DK)
During Larson’s two races in Virginia, there were a lot of ups and downs. After finishing fifth at Richmond, he failed to repeat his success at Martinsville. In the end, he finished 19th after struggling with his position all day. To be fair, Martinsville has never been his favorite track. Fans of the series know dirt track is Larson’s forte.
On his off days, you can find him racing dirt tracks all over the country. It was no surprise, then, that Larson was the hot favorite heading into the debut event of last season. In light of Larson’s quick demise, most were surprised. However, we cannot always account for another driver’s mistakes. This race will present him with a chance to right some wrongs. Lock up Larson this weekend, as he should be able to repay owners who put their faith in him.
Joey Logano (13,500 FD | 10,600 DK)
After a couple of rough finishes at the COTA and Richmond, Logano came into Richmond looking to break the slump in a big way. He did that at Martinsville, finishing runner-up to William Byron. Although Logano had the chance to win it had he bumped him a bit harder, he held back. Regardless it was a great response.
Last year, Logano was far from being the favorite coming into this race, and few gave him a shot of winning. It is to his credit that he came from virtually nowhere and put on a show. He not only won the race but led 61 laps as well. Some might chalk it up to luck which isn’t very fair. There was no other driver that was touching him in that final restart. If you need more validation, remember he did win that exhibition race at the Los Angeles Coliseum. Which is a race track quite similar to the one at Bristol.
Mid-Range
Kevin Harvick (8,000 FD | 8,100 DK)
Only two weeks removed from finishing a hotly contested runner-up to Denny Hamlin, Harvick demonstrated he still has some good racing left in him. It’s going to be hard to decipher what he is capable of this weekend, although he does have a solid history here on concrete. He finished 15th in the inaugural Bristol dirt race, while he likely could have done better had it not been for the wreck on lap 54. To get him for this bargain price is a little surprising, even if he has lost a step. His days of dominating races we can safely say are gone. However, Harvick’s still a good solid top-10 driver. Pick him up without hesitation if he qualifies in that top 15.
Value Play
Daniel Suarez (8,500 FD | 8,300 DK)
Last year’s race at Bristol featured another dark horse in Suarez. After flirting with the lead throughout the final 25 laps in stage one, he finished fourth. As the day progressed, he would lead 58 laps among the front-runers. Only Logano and Truex Jr. would lead more. The showing was impressive for a driver who had no previous experience in dirt racing. His runner-up finish at the COTA three weeks ago was great, but he needs to add more solid runs. While Suarez is a great value play, there are still a lot of owners who will sleep on him. A top-10 run with some fastest laps sprinkled in is doable.
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